


The Surprising Softness of Boys

by fifthcolor



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Bittersweet, Canon Compliant, Canonical Character Death, Gen, Implied Relationships, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Late Night Conversations, M/M, Manhattan Apartment, One Shot, Short & Sweet, Sort of Fluff but Not Quite
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-16
Updated: 2018-11-16
Packaged: 2019-08-24 07:26:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16635530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fifthcolor/pseuds/fifthcolor
Summary: Vague feelings in broken English whispered in the dark. Remembering lost lovers in simple terms: soft, cold, strong, surprising. Ash listens.





	The Surprising Softness of Boys

“Boys have soft skin.” 

Eiji whispered the words into the darkness of the room twenty minutes after the lights had been turned out, and they’d both tucked in for bed. There was a pause, then the sound of rustling sheets as Ash shifted, his voice crackly with sleep. “Care to expand on that?” 

“No,” Eiji mumbled, embarrassed at his sudden confession. It had been more of a feeling linked with a vague network of thoughts and memories, and he was certain he’d summed it up poorly. There was silence for a minute more before he spoke again, the words tumbling out, colliding with each other as he processed each thought, translating and admitting them aloud in real time:

“Ash, do you know? Sometimes you look at person and think they will be cold because they act cold. I thought Shorter would be hot, but then I feel him in back of truck and he was cold! Also he was very soft and it surprises me. I expect him to be rough. You know, he was so big and strong but his skin was very smooth. Everyone says girls are soft, but boys are softer and more surprising.” 

He blushed at the memory that came to mind and curled up under the sheets and into himself the same way he had back then, tight up against the sharp hip of this person he'd only just met. They were under the stars in the bed of the truck, and Shorter had pulled him against his side to keep him from knocking into anything as they drove, rolling and bumping through miles and miles of Indiana corn. Everything about it was new.

“Shorter was soft and cool.” 

“Perfect for summer,” came the quiet reply. 

The same rhythm repeated: a silence, a shift in the sheets, and then a hushed voice. “Good that you are warm, then, Ash. It’s cold outside now.” 

“Lucky you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Most of this was imagined on a walk down 36th Street in Manhattan while huddling in my scarf against the morning wind. I felt a bit of cold air slip down my collar and it made me think of cold hands. Also, I was listening to Cruel Summer by Bananarama, so it all sort of congealed into this.
> 
> Thank you to @elderfleurs for their careful editing of the fic, and for giving this a good title that captures the physical and emotional aspects of what I was trying to say. I find I'm often as at a loss for words as Eiji is, and you fill in the blanks. What a MadLib we make.


End file.
